It didn't take long for Duke Medicine and the Ochsner Health System to integrate their electronic health records systems with Apple’s HealthKit. Why did they move so fast?
In Ochsner’s case, the New Orleans-based health system's doctors have been asking patients for years to record information such as blood pressure data, diet, exercise and weight loss, according to Chief Clinical Transformation Officer Richard Milani, MD.
“The integration of Apple’s HealthKit with our EHR affords patients new opportunities to better integrate their lifestyles with healthcare providers,” Milani said.
Like Ochsner, Duke Medicine integrated its Epic MyChart EHR with HealthKit to better track patients outside of office encounters, said Ricky Bloomfield, MD, director of Duke’s mobile technology strategy.
Bloomfield and Milani are scheduled to speak during a session at the Healthcare IT News Clinical Mobility Forum on Tuesday, Dec. 9, at the mHealth Summit 2014. Via an Open Mic format, Bloomfield and Milani will answer attendee questions beginning at 1:15 p.m.
Bloomfield said technologies like HealthKit are opening doors that enable patients to choose whether they want to share data, as well as which information and with whom — a boon to doctors making informed treatment decisions in cooperation with those patients.
“When you think about it, patients spend far more time at home than they do in the clinic or hospital, yet those are the times we collect the vast majority of vital information from them,” he said. “So it’s important that we know how they’re doing at home as well as during their routine checkups.”
Over at Ochsner, the Epic-HealthKit integration also enables patients to more easily reach their doctors.
“Patients are asking for other means of connectivity and ‘touch’ with healthcare providers,” Milani said.
The mHealth Summit 2014 runs from Dec. 7-11 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center just outside Washington, D.C. Register here.
